Stage 39 - Culture Flashcards
(22 cards)
What is a recitatio?
A public reading
What are librarii?
Slaves who copied down books
What are bibliopolae?
Booksellers
How did a writer distribute his work to the public?
- If the author’s patron owned sufficiently educated slaves, he could ask them to make copies for the author to distribute among his friends
- Author could offer his work to booksellers, whose slaves would make copies for sale to the public
Where did most Roman booksellers have their shops? Where was this street?
The Argiletum
Between the Roman Forum and the Subura
How much was a small book of poems?
5 sesterces
How much was a book made with high quality-materials (deluxe)?
20 sesterces
How much was Martial able to sell his first book of epigrams for? How long was it?
20 sesterces
700 lines
Why was there no such thing as a professional writer?
All money from sales of books belonged to the booksellers, not the authors
How did the Pliny make his money?
He was a landowner
How did Martial make his money?
He depended on patrons for support
What could an author offer his patron?
A wider reputation, dignitas (honour, more respect)
Vergil and Horace had which Emperor as a patron?
Emperor Augustus; his friend Maecenas helped them too
Why was Ovid exiled by Augustus?
- He was involved in a scandal in the emperor’s family
2. He wrote the poem Ars Amatoria, which went against Augustus’ laws on respectable marriage
Whose comic plays were seen by thousands of people?
Plautus
What kind of audience did most Roman authors try to appeal to?
A small, highly educated group of readers familiar with Latin/Greek literature
Who was the first teacher to obtain a salary from the state? What was his title? Who did he teach?
Quintilian
Instructor of rhetoric
Pliny the Younger
What was Quintilian’s book called? What did it talk about?
The Education of an Orator
It covered education from infancy to the level of the experienced speaker, and commented on various authors
What did a rhetor do?
Taught people how to express thoughts persuasively, selection of words, how to organize a speech
What is the most important difference between Latin and modern literature?
Latin literature was meant to be read aloud
What are the three reasons literature was read aloud?
- Easy for an author to make his work known
- Authors received training in public speaking which affected how they wrote
- Romans usually read aloud
Who wrote this description of silent reading?
cum legebat, oculi ducebantur per paginas et cor intellectum
rimabatur, vox autem et lingua quiescebant
Saint Augustine
